Couple Illegally Used Amazon Replacement Policy To Get $1.2M Worth Of Electronics For Free

An Indiana couple pleaded guilty recently to their part in defrauding Amazon of more than $1.2 million in electronic devices by taking advantage of the e-commerce giant’s replacement policy. 

The couple pleaded guilty [PDF] last month to charges of mail fraud and money laundering for their part in a scheme that involved purchasing goods from Amazon, asking for free replacements, and then selling those products at higher prices.

The Alleged Scheme

Back in May, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana accused the couple and another man of defrauding Amazon of hundreds of consumer electronics items and selling them on the black market.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the fraud involved taking advantage of Amazon’s replacement policy, which allows — under certain circumstances — for customers to request and receive replacement items if the product they received is damaged or not working.

While Amazon closely monitors customers’ accounts and orders for fraudulent activity related to the policy, the couple was able to skirt that monitoring by creating “hundreds of false online identities.”

Once the couple received the replacement products — which included Samsung smartwatches, Microsoft Surface tablets, GoPro cameras, and other items — they would sell the original and replacement items to a third man for a price significantly lower than they paid for the original electronic device.

This third man would then mark up the cost of the item and sell them to an unnamed New York company, which then sold the products to the public.

In all, the man made $1.2 million by selling the items. Of that money, the couple received $725,000.

According to plea agreements [PDF] submitted by federal prosecutors following the couple’s arrest, each of the defendants faces up to 20 years behind bars. They must also pay restitution to Amazon for the full $1.218 million, though it’s unlikely the company will ever see anywhere near that amount.

[h/t The Star Press]

Shake Shack Trying Out Cashless Kiosks In Quest To Speed Up Ordering Process

In an effort to speed things up in its restaurants, Shake Shack is trying out a few new things at one New York City location, including cashless kiosks that customers use to place orders monitored by employees.

The chain is introducing cashless kiosks at a new location in Astor Place, a restaurant dubbed “the playground” because the company uses it to test new innovations, CNBC reports.

Diners will send their orders directly to the kitchen either by using one of the digital kiosk — with a “hospitality champ” nearby if they need help — or using their phones.

Customers won’t be able to pay with cash, as Shake Shack wants to see if ditching paper money will make the process run more smoothly.

The kitchen has also been rearranged to “eliminate friction time,” CEO Randy Garutti tells CNBC. Once an order is ready, instead of getting a buzz on a Shake Shack pager, customers will now receive a text. That way, guests won’t have to stay in the restaurant while they wait for their food.

“It’s really a guest-centric strategy,” Garutti told CNBC. “We get the best people and the best hospitality. It’s not just about the hamburgers.”

The Equifax Executive Who Oversaw Security Also Approved Last-Minute Stock Sales

Right before Equifax revealed that it had failed to secure the information of some 143 million Americans, some company executives sold off nearly $2 million in Equifax stock — a move that is currently under investigation. According to a new report, the Equifax executive who approved those stock sales is also the exec in charge of the company’s cybersecurity.

The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, reports that investigations by Equifax’s board and the Securities & Exchange Commission currently focus on Equifax’s top lawyer, John Kelley.

Kelley is in charge of approving share sales by executives and overseeing cybersecurity at the company. These roles further intensify questions related to what Kelley knew when he approved the share sales, reportedly just days after the breach was uncovered in July.

A Security Role

Kelley, who is also in charge of government and legislative relations, was put in charge of cybersecurity at the company in an effort to provide an unbiased look at where money would go, sources tell The WSJ.

Under the arrangement, former chief security officer Susan Mauldin, who “retired” just a week after the breach was announced, reported to Kelley.

Under the arrangement, Mauldin was responsible for informing Kelley of potential issues related to the company’s security, sources tell The WSJ. Kelley would then pass this information on to former CEO Richard Smith, who resigned from the company last week. 

The Sale

The WSJ reports that Equifax contends that the executives who sold the shares were unaware of the breach when they made that decision. Sources note that the three executives had not been involved in meetings about the breach.

However, the shares were sold Aug. 1 and Aug. 2, just days after the breach was uncovered by security staff on July 29.

It’s unclear if Kelley was informed of the breach on that day. If he was aware of the issue and then approved the share sales that would be troublesome.

For this reason, Equifax’s board has opened its own inquiry into Kelley’s role and knowledge of the hack.

Another Investigation

The WSJ reports that an exchange between SEC chairman Jay Clayton and lawmakers suggests that the agency is now investigating the share sales.

During a Senate Banking Committee hearing last week, Louisiana Senator John Kennedy thanked Clayton for investigating the issue.

Facebook May Soon Let You Unlock Account With Your Face

While two-factor authentication is a very handy tool for regaining access to your accounts if you get locked out or forget your password, sometimes getting a text message or an email isn’t possible. That’s why Facebook has confirmed it’s looking into using facial recognition as a way to verify a user’s identity.

Facebook wants you to stare deeply into your phone screen — not so it can slap some silly Instagram filter over a selfie, but so it can use facial-recognition technology to unlock your account.

The social media and advertising mega-company is testing this new tech as a way to verify identities of users who have been locked out of their accounts and can’t, for whatever reason, use a more traditional two-factor authentication system.

The Next Web’s Matt Navara shared a screenshot of the feature on Twitter:

NEW! Facebook working on a facial recognition feature to help secure your account

h/t Devesh Logendran http://pic.twitter.com/demol4dKj1

— Matt Navarra ⭐️ (@MattNavarra) September 29, 2017

Facebook subsequently confirmed the test to TechCrunch, saying “We are testing a new feature for people who want to quickly and easily verify account ownership during the account recovery process.”

The feature is optional and would only be available on devices you’ve used to access Facebook in the past.

“It is another step, alongside two-factor authentication via SMS, that were taking to make sure account owners can confirm their identity,” Facebook’s statement reads.

Before it rolls out the facial recognition feature more widely, Facebook likely wants to make sure hackers — or evil twins — can’t get around it.

Apple’s iPhone X Likely To Make Billions Of Dollars… For Samsung

Here’s a funny thing about your modern technology landscape: The competition isn’t quite what it seems. Although Korean tech giant Samsung and iTitan Apple both sling out new high-end, flagship smartphones every year to entice the gadget-loving consumer, under the hood it’s a bit of a “heads I win, tails you lose” situation for Samsung, which stands to win big if Apple does — because it supplies a number of the key parts that make your iPhone go.

Samsung’s got to be at least as excited for Apple’s new fancy flagship iPhone X to do well as Apple is, the Wall Street Journal reports, because it’s going to make more money from Apple than it is from its own Galaxy line of phones.

An analysis the WSJ commissioned found that over the 20 months after the iPhone X launch, the parts Samsung makes for Apple’s device are likely to generate $4 billion more for Samsung than the parts for the company’s own Galaxy S8 do.

That’s based on an estimation that Apple will sell 130 million iPhone X devices worldwide during that time frame. Each of those thousand-dollar smartphone sales sends about $110 Samsung’s way.

Samsung pockets more from each Galaxy S8, the analysis finds — about $202 — but Samsung is only expected to sell about 50 million units of the S8 line in that same timeframe. The math says that Samsung is thus going to make more revenue from the Apple phone than it will off its signature device.

Tangled Supply Chain

Although Samsung’s devices are generally selling well as the world’s top high-end Android devices, the company has been part of competitor Apple’s supply chain for years.

Related: It takes dozens of companies to make your iPhone

Samsung made more than 75% of the actual processor chips — the tiny silicon brains that make computers work — for several generations of iPhone. These days, that business falls to a different company, but Samsung still provides other components for the iPhone, including the OLED screens that make the new iPhone display so sharp and bright.

The WSJ reports that despite a long-running patent infringement lawsuit, the two companies still work closely together… although Apple is also ramping up development and production of OLED tech in-house for 2019.

Toys ‘R’ Us Hopes Playrooms & Augmented Reality Stations Will Bring Customers Back

If Toys ‘R’ Us is going to survive its recent bankruptcy filing and prevent a domino effect of debt throughout the toy industry, the retailer will need to get shoppers into stores and buying things. The company is hoping that making its stores more interactive for customers — including try-before-you-buy playrooms — will help put it back on the path to solvency.

USA Today reports that in an effort to get customers through the door Toys ‘R’ Us today debuted an augmented reality experience at 23 of its stores.

The new system, which will hit all stores Oct. 21, is intended to “transform the experience of coming into a Toys ‘R’ Us bricks and mortar store and turn it into something that’s quite different an a lot more fun,” CEO Dave Brandon tells USA Today.

A New Experience

Through the new program, Toys ‘R’ Us stores will feature 13 different stations that can be unlocked with a customer’s smartphone or tablet.

To begin the experience, the retailer’s mascot, Geoffrey the giraffe, greets customers virtually and gives them instructions on how to play.

Shoppers are then guided to the AR stations via flashing icons and stickers on the floor. Once guests reach the station, they use their phone or tablet to scan a sign on the shelf. Once the scan is complete, a toy or activity will come to life on the screen.

For example, if a customer visits the sporting goods station, they can scan the sign and a basketball will appear. They can then move the ball around their screen, through a hoop, and score points. They can then compare scores with others playing the game.

USA Today reports that each activity completed provides shoppers with stars, and the more stars you get the more experiences you can test.

Trying It Out First

In another attempt to get customers into stores and away from online rivals, USA Today reports that Toys ‘R’ Us let customers test out toys before buying them.

Starting this fall, the company will open playrooms at 42 stores with the aim of letting children try out games and gadgets, and watch demonstrations.

Brandon tells USA Today that work on the new AR stations and future playrooms began before the company filed for bankruptcy two weeks ago.

While he cautions that neither initiative will be able to completely turn around the retailer’s business, he believes it will get customers in the door.

“A lot of people hear the word bankruptcy and they immediately conclude that the brand or the company is going to go away,” Brandon said.

That’s not the case for Toys ‘R’ Us, Brandon notes, adding that the retailer will have full shelves during the holiday season and after.

L.A.-Bound Flight Makes Emergency Landing After Engine Breaks Apart Over Ocean

An Air France flight from Paris to Los Angeles was forced to make an emergency landing in eastern Canada after one of the plane’s engines broke into pieces over the Atlantic.

The A380 superjumbo jet and its 497 passengers landed at Goose Bay airport in Newfoundland on Sunday afternoon. No one was hurt, and the airline says it’s now investigating “serious damage” to one of the plane’s four engines.

“The aircraft landed safely at 15:42 (GMT), and the regularly trained pilots and cabin crew handled this serious incident perfectly,” the airline said.

One passenger Tweeted that a fellow traveler with a view of the engine said it “exploded” into a “giant fireball.”

I talked to the passenger by the window and He said the entire engine exploded into giant fireball.

— Daniel McNeely (@DanMcneely) September 30, 2017

Another reported a “loud thud” and “lots of vibration,” Tweeting a photo of the engine in pretty bad shape:

Inflight pictures. Loud thud and a lot of vibration. http://pic.twitter.com/s9GFIyssrh

— Rick Engebretsen (@RickEngebretsen) September 30, 2017

I think the engine has seen better days. http://pic.twitter.com/tAcBE1t0rc

— Daniel McNeely (@DanMcneely) September 30, 2017

Passengers reported having to wait in the plane for hours on the tarmac without any updates from the crew. Eventually, after about 23 hours onboard, passengers said they were allowed to leave and board a bus

After 23-hours on board, we are finally allowed to leave and board the bus. Which will take us to another plane to go home. http://pic.twitter.com/JPYoWonWn8

— Daniel McNeely (@DanMcneely) October 1, 2017

“Air France apologizes once again to all its customers affected by this incident for which specific commercial measures will be implemented.”